The Not So Happy Birthday
by Goddess of Fanfiction
Summary: First one-shot! I think the title is pretty self-explanatory, and I am just really horrible at summarizing. So, enjoy the story, I promise it's better than my summarizing skills (honestly, how did I ever pass Language Arts?). Rated T for my paranoia and a bit of violence. Quick note: My cousin is attempting a happy ending for this- it's not over yet!
1. The Not So Happy Birthday

AN: So, I'm finally posting a new story (don't worry, I'll work on JYAT as soon as I can) and it's not even mine! That's right, this is a story written by my lovely cousin (who calls herself Athena) who does not have an account, so I'm posting it for her (after doing a bit of editing). She's pretty shy about her work, but this is really good. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Zatanna breathed in shallowly, feeling pain as the air moved down to her lungs. Her head pounded as she slowly

opened her eyes. She lay on the cold concrete floor of a nearly empty warehouse. The magician tried to remember

why she was there, but all she could remember was being hit and falling to the floor, where her head cracked

against the hard ground. Zatanna lightly tapped her left hand to the top of her head. When brought to her eyes,

she saw blood on her white gloves. She sighed and then gasped. It was then that Zatanna remembered she had

not come alone, but with the birthday boy of this December 1st, Nightwing. She was not in fair shape with

numerous cuts and bruises, not to mention a gash across each leg along with her head injury, but the Team's leader

was most likely in much worse shape. Various memories flooded back to her. Yes, he was definitely going to be

worse off. He had, after all, drawn attention to himself so Zatanna could hide after getting both legs cut by some

sharp weapon. She had dragged herself behind some stacked boxes, and tried to stand, shakily succeeding. Then,

she heard a scream and limped out of her hiding place to help her friend. But, as soon as she was out from behind

the boxes, she was hit and the contact with the ground knocked her unconscious. She saw something in the dark

light of early evening, and recognized it as her foolish protector.

Zatanna now remembered how they got here and why they came to this place. She had gone to the Cave to wish

him a happy birthday and give him the traditional kiss, and he asked if she could help him with something. She

happily agreed but politely asked why she was chosen. He just smirked and said "So I can share my asterous day

with a close friend." He had matured and grown more serious since she first met him, so she smiled widely at the

sound of one of his made-up words. He then explained that there was an unseen evil force that was incredibly

unpredictable ravaging through Blüdhaven and Gotham, and wanted to investigate it.

They arrived at the last place the villain appeared. There, the two readied for a tough fight. Zatanna had asked why

he had not brought more of the team, and he replied that he had a hunch of who the villain was, and that a

carefully planned meeting would grant no need for more people, along with him missing spending time with her (his

saying this was accompanied with his signature smirk). Zatanna had then sensed an odd force, and a flash of red

and black was seen until it literally disappeared before their eyes. Nightwing called out a name, but the magician

had missed it, since she was focusing on the odd vibe from the person with them. The villain then attacked them in

a mad rage. Nightwing, with a little difficulty, held off the vanishing man, or was it a teen? Zatanna aided him by

casting spells to capture the mysterious person, but felt cold gloved hands grip her throat, and suddenly could not

breathe. The magician tried to utter a spell or kick or punch the villain, but was unable to break free. The person

had vanished and reappeared behind Zatanna and was choking her. Nightwing called out the name Jason and

pleaded for him to stop, and to let them speak with him, but Jason did so only after slitting her legs so she could not

walk easily. Nightwing growled and yelled that that was not necessary, and the teen responded by saying he

always liked to make Dick angry. A confused Zatanna fell to the ground, unable to heal or protect herself, but she

was slowly regaining the ability to breathe and speak. Zatanna realized this Jason person was about to stomp on

her face (after saying to Nightwing now was too late for more talking), but Nightwing threw a birdarang, which

stuck in Jason's ankle and made him buckle and fall next to the magician. Jason got right up after pulling the sharp

object from his ankle and vanished, seemingly to follow Nightwing, who had run away to draw attention from the

injured magician. It was then that she went behind the boxes, stood shakily (she was too worried for her friend to

act sensibly, to heal herself so she could help Nightwing or stay hidden), and was knocked out after hearing the

scream.

These memories all flooded back to her in seconds as she ran to her friend, her boots lightly clunking on the floor as

she favored a leg with less pain throughout it. "Nightwing!" she called out as she reached the birthday boy. She

dropped down next to him and used her right hand to lightly pick up his head and placed her left hand on his

collarbone. Zatanna loosely closed her left hand into a fist, and saw something on her glove, and let out a cry. She

then relaxed, remembering it was her own blood on the glove, not his. Zatanna turned her head to the side and

leaned toward Nightwing. Her ear heard no breath and felt nothing. She suddenly started to panic, adrenaline

running through her as her eyes widened in terror and she placed her hand on the side of his neck. She felt

nothing. "No, no, no. This isn't happening, this isn't real. This is just a bad, bad dream that I'll wake up from in a

minute . . ." Dream or not, she had to do something, so she thanked goodness for the emergency training she had

received at the Cave years ago. After pressing on his chest and doing CPR for what felt like forever but was only

minutes, she realized how futile all this was. _He could have died hours ago, you were knocked out you worthless, awful _

_failure of a Leaguer! Nothing you can do can help! _Zatanna started to cry, but some beacon of hope went through her

when she saw a glimpse of the sun setting through a space in the wall. _That means we've only been here for a short _

_time! But he's still . . . oh no . . ._ She leaned down and put her head on his chest and cried, stroking his hair with her

left hand, then regretting it for the blood on it, which had not yet dried, was now on him.

* * *

So, this is the most depressing (also the longest) thing I've put on here. Still, I hope it was good, because I honestly believe Athena's writing is amazing.

So thanks for the story Athy!

~Goddess

PS: I was thinking about changing my username...I have some ideas that I might bring up in the next JYAT chapter (which I'll try to put up soon).


	2. The Not So Happy Birthday- The End

Part two! Hope you enjoy, I can't seem to type the AN at the bottom ... review when you're done!

* * *

The young magician did not try to bring him back with magic, death is untouchable. Her failure would only further

her pain. Zatanna was pulled from her misery when she heard a light beep in her ear. She tapped her earpiece

after sitting up. Flash's voice came through and she winced.

"What's up buttercup? How are my two favorite lovebirds? Don't tell Wally and Artemis, though, even retired the

archer scares me!"

Flash was subtly asking where she and Dick were. Dick had informed his best friend, the retired speedster, about

this mission, who had then told Barry. It brought a weak smile to Zatanna's face that Dick and Wally still talked

often despite the little time available to see each other. That weak smile quickly vanished, because she realized

that Wally would never talk to his best friend again.

"Zatanna?" Flash said, worried.

She forgot that Flash had asked her a question. She could hardly speak, but somehow managed to tell him all that

had happened. Flash let out a large sigh and asked her if she was sure he was gone. She nodded, then realized he

couldn't see it and said yes.

"How was he . . . killed? And who . . . you know. I'm sorry, I need to ask you." Zatanna realized how clueless she

was and calmed herself so she could answer both questions.

"I can't tell, he looks . . . normal. Nightwing had called out Jason a few times, Jason probably . . . killed him." The

name was very familiar, but the circumstances led her mind to be hazy. It wasn't completely out of the ordinary

though, since her head was still throbbing lightly from her head wound.

"Zatanna, Jason as in Dick's brother? That's not possible. He was killed by the Joker a long time ago."

Of course, Dick's brother! He wasn't the most pleasant person, but would he really kill his own brother?

"Barry, I remember that Dick hinted that he knew the person well and said he hoped he could talk to him, not fight."

"I don't understand why he did this, but I do know one thing."

"What is it?" Zatanna hoped Flash had a wisecrack up his sleeve to make her smile in this terrible time.

"It's all your fault Zatanna. You are a failure in life and you couldn't stop one of your best friends from being killed!

You're worthless."

Zatanna's eyes widened in disbelief. "Barry, how could you say that? We seriously underestimated the hatred and

audacity of this villain, so it led to the worst-case scenario." She looked at the lifeless form of someone very

important to her. "Please don't make this harder than it already is. I know how useless I am, please just let me just

carry the weight of my sadness. I don't need you to multiply it."

Suddenly, Zatanna heard a new voice over the comm, one she dreaded facing.

"Zatanna! How could you let this happen? He trusted you to keep both of you safe, and I bet he died protecting

you! My brother is now dead because of you! I've lost two brothers now, how do you think I feel? How am I ever

supposed to forgive you for this?"

"Tim . . . I'm so sorry. I don't expect you to forgive me . . ." Zatanna started to sob, and stood up, walking away

from Dick's body. She pulled the comm out of her ear but still heard voices around her, livid screams and devastated

whispers were equally terrible. The magician couldn't handle it anymore. Everyone blamed her. Everyone gave up

on her. Zatanna had no one. She screamed, and all the windows of the cliche warehouse broke inward, circling

her. The broken glass slicing her body was extremely painful, but not nearly as painful as the mental torment.

"Zee? Zee?"

An unforgettable voice reached her ears, but she refused to believe it. "Zee? Please come back to me."

Zatanna opened her eyes slowly, she was really tired.

"Zatanna, are you alright?"

His voice again! She looked around from her position lying down, wait she was lying against someone. Her back

was against someone's chest, her head was across their collarbone and right shoulder. Zatanna was sitting

between someone's legs, and their arms were around her stomach. She wanted to turn around to see who was

holding her upright, but she was so tired. Her vision was blurry too, she wouldn't be able to see them if she tried.

The magician started to drift off before being shaken lightly.

"Zee? Thank God, I thought I had lost you!"

That voice, she knew it, but her mind felt cloudy, and she couldn't think. What just happened? Where

am I? Who's holding me? Zatanna tried to turn around, aided by the person holding her upright. She faced this

man, no, an old teen and looked into his blue eyes. So familiar, but from where? She could hardly make out any

other features, her vision still blurred. Zatanna could barely tell he was smiling though.

"Zatanna, it's me!"

Who's me? His face clouded, and lightly waved a hand in front of her face. She blinked rapidly and leaned back

slightly. Why'd he do that? That wasn't very nice.

"Zatanna, it's me, Nightwing. My real name's Richard Grayson, but people call me Dick. We've been friends for

around five years now, and it's my birthday today, December 1st. We came on a mission together, we're young

adult heroes. It . . . went wrong and we were hurt. You have a nasty cut on your head along with many other

smaller injuries. I was just stomped on after you were knocked out. A few broken ribs, that's all. Ja- I mean, the

villain had another trick. He somehow made his own type of fear gas, which he sprayed at you after knocking you

out and hurting me. I found that out with a high-tech scanner I have with me. Your concussion along with the new

fear gas seems to be causing memory loss."

Zatanna's vision started to clear, along with her mind. Her eyes widened, and she threw herself at her protector.

"Dick, you're alive!" She hugged him tight and buried her head in the crook of his neck and started to cry. Dick

wrapped his arms around her again, and laughed. He gently rested his head on hers after lightly kissing the top of

her head.

"I guess this isn't a good time to remind you about my broken ribs?" Zatanna immediately loosened her grip, but

didn't let go. "I guess I shouldn't ask what you saw in the fear vision?" Zatanna nodded.

"It was my worst nightmare, but it showed me something that is very important." She pulled away only far enough

to look up at him. "No mask?" Zatanna smiled lightly and he did the same, but she told herself to say what she

learned. " I learned that I can't live without you, I care about you way too much." She blushed and looked down,

realizing how close they were.

Dick smiled and gently tapped her chin to have her look up at him. "I couldn't live without you either, Zee. I thought

I was going to lose you tonight. That would be the worst birthday on record."

"I know, disastrous with emphasis on the _dis._ I hope I just made it better." Zatanna couldn't stop smiling now, she

couldn't feel her head throbbing anymore, or any cuts and bruises. All that mattered was she just told her best

friend her true feelings, after five years! It's about time!

Dick returned the feelings too, which meant the world to her. she remembered a quote her mother used to say to

her when she felt alone. It was a perfect way to explain her feelings when she is not having a good time with her

own words.

"'To love is one thing. To be loved is another-'"

"'But to be loved by the one you love, that is everything.'" Dick surprised her by finishing the quote. "I know, Zee."

The two young adults looked into each other's eyes, and after a long-awaited modest first kiss, they hugged each

other.

Then, they stood up and Zatanna used a spell to transport them back to the Cave med-bay, hand in hand.

* * *

"If you want to know where your heart is, look where your mind goes when it wanders."


End file.
